First Knitting Post

You knew it was coming. Another blog dedicated to knitting.

To get things started, here are before and after pictures of my Friday night.

BEFORE:

AFTER:
I had frogged a couple of projects to re-claim the yarn, then hung the yarn on hangers to steam out the kinks. Finally, all I had to do was wind the yarn back into balls without getting it tangled. I did not succeed with the purple yarn, as it took me well over two hours to get it untangled. I devised a method for rolling the green yarn, but it still was a pain in the neck. Luckily we had vodka in the house which made this process less horrible. Although, now that I think about it, it may have made it go a little slower. Something to think about. Notice that no progress was made on the blue hat, but I polished off my vodka tonic without any problems.I do actually have some completed projects, though. Here’s the first: Hat: Made using Crazy Aunt Purl’s Roll Brim Hat Recipe with “Excellent” yarn by Schoeller & Stahl (Wool/Acrylic/Alpaca) with #11 circular & double-pointed needles. Crazy Aunt Purl’s Easy Roll Brim Hat Recipe made the double-pointed needles less scary.
Scarf: Same yarn, simple garter stitch on #13 straight needles.
Photo Credit: Mr. Martini, as I gave up trying to take a self-portrait of this ensemble when the best pic I could get looked like this. Hats: Based on man’s hat pattern from Stitch ‘n Bitch: The Knitter’s Handbook by Debbie Stoller. I used Brown Sheep Company’s Lamb’s Pride Bulky (Wool/Mohair) in Deep Charcoal (top) and Tiger Lily/Orchid Thistle (bottom) on #10.5 straight needles.
Side note: After seeing my first hat, I offered to make a hat for Mr. Martini. He asked if he could get a less girly looking one. I found this pattern, and thought it would be perfect, as it is supposed to fit like a skullcap. However, I knit the largest size, so rather than fitting like a skullcap, it fit like this. So I rolled up the brim and showed it to Mr. Martini. He never knew the difference. But he agreed that it is less girly, and really likes it and will definitely wear it this winter. I liked it so much, I made one for me in more girly colors.Also – I am very, very, very bad at seaming. So if you’re sitting behind me while I’m wearing the orange hat, don’t poke fun. Or, at least, don’t poke fun so I can hear you. Because I’m sensitive about my poor seaming skills, and might burst into blubbery tears. Which is less embarrassing for me than it would be for you. Really.I have since completed the blue hat, but since my camera batteries died after taking all of these self-portraits of the completed projects, all I can show you of that project is this work-in-progress photo:

Hat: Based on Crazy Aunt Purl’s recipe again, but I varied it to have a ribbed cuff. For this I used Brown Sheep Company’s Lamb’s Pride Bulky (Wool/Mohair) in Blue Flannel on #10.5 circular and double-pointed needles.
Mental State: Questionable.So pics of the finished blue hat are forthcoming, along with a few scarves I’ll be finishing up soon.It’s so nice to knit now that the temperature has finally dropped below 90 degrees. All of this knitting even has me looking forward to winter a little bit. Which is something I never thought I’d say. Wow.

So, that was the knitting post. It wasn’t so bad, right? Right?